How to Save Money When Shopping Online

Looking to do your shopping on the Internet? These tips, tricks, and tools can score you lower price

Lance Whitney

19 Oct 2018, 7:20 a.m.

You might shop at Amazon and other online retailers without batting an eye at the prices. But before you hit the virtual checkout line on your next buying spree, check out the tips below to help save you some cash.

Google Shopping

Here's the first and easiest trick: When you're looking for a specific product or browsing a general category of merchandise and want to find the best prices, head to the Google Shopping site and type the name or description of the item you seek (or click the Shopping tab when you search for something in Google). In response, Google serves up results for your item or category, and you can see what each retailer is currently charging.

Compare Retailers

Click on any of the results to see more information, including seller rating. Click the Visit Site button to view that seller’s product page.

Coupon Sites

You can tap into coupon sites that steer you to online deals. Groupon is probably the best known of these, but RetailMeNot, Coupons.com, and Savings.com are worth checking, too. (PCMag parent company Ziff Davis also owns Offers.com and TechBargains.com). On Groupon, just type the name of the product you want, and the site delivers links to retailers offering the item at a discount. Click on the price to view the deal and purchase the product, if you wish.

Shopping on Ebates

Shopping through Ebates is another way to save some bucks. Browse to the Ebates site to create an account and receive cash back on certain purchases. You can then browse by store or search for a specific item. The site shows you different retailers that carry the product you want, and what you'll earn for buying the item.

Earn Cash Back with Ebates

Click on the link to the item or store you're interested in. A message indicates the percentage of the cash back you’ll receive. Click through to shop and the money you earn is added to your Ebates account after the purchase is confirmed. The site sends members cash back every three months in the form of a check or PayPal payment.

Install Honey

A free add-on called Honey can deliver deals via your browser. Install it and create an account, either through Facebook or with an email address and password.

Get Coupons With Honey

You can now search by store. In the search field at the top, type the name of an online retailer: Amazon, for example. Select "Amazon" from the list of suggestions. The site displays links to coupons that you can use at that site. Click on one of the buttons to "Start Shopping."

Travel to Retailer Sites

At the retailer’s site, you’ll see a message telling you that Honey is now active and will appear at checkout.

Search For Better Deals

Click on the item you want. Hover over the Honey Best Deal button to see if any better deals are available for the item.

Add Item to Droplist

You can even shoot for a cheaper price with Honey: Select the number of days, and choose a lower price. Click the "Add to Droplist" button. Honey will inform you if the price drops to your level within the specified number of days. You can continue to use Honey directly through your browser to hunt for deals and discounts.

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About the Author

Surviving a long and varied career in publishing, advertising, and IT, Lance Whitney now wears a few different technology hats. By day, he's a journalist, software trainer, and sometime Web developer. By night, he's asleep. These days, he writes news stories, columns, and reviews for CNET and other technology sites and publications. He;s written two books for Wiley & Sons: Windows 8 Five Minutes at a Time in 2012, and Teach Yourself VISUALLY LinkedIn in 2014. Contact Lance via Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. See Full Bio